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Archive for the ‘My Questions’ Category

Okay, so I have a big pet peeve with people saying the wrong color. Don’t quite get what I mean. Have you ever had a friend point out someone by the color of their shirt and you couldn’t find them because they gave you the wrong color? (“There’s Doug.” “Where?” “He’s wearing the green shirt.” “Huh? Oh, there. That’s yellow.” “No, it’s not.” “Next time your at my house I’ll pull out my Prismacolors and show you Chartreuse.”) I get I’m anal about it. But, is it that hard to tell the difference? I mean even if you didn’t know the specific color’s name (Chartreuse, in this case) why would you say green over yellow, if it looks more yellow than green? And this goes both ways, too. I can name about 300 colors in English (probably a lot more if I really thought about it), but I could only MAYBE name each color in a 24-pack of crayons in japanese. I get very aggravated by it. It make me feel dumb. If I had been raised overseas I could have been able to say more than just English color names. I want to find out if Prismacolor sells alcohol markers in Japan just so I can have them shipped to me here. I care more about finding these kinds of things out than I do about making sure I don’t yubisute someone’s name. (I think that’s the right word? Where you don’t put -san, -chan, or -kun on the end of their name. Right?)

Despite being an american my ancestors didn’t come over here until the late 1800s so maybe that’s why tea has been more common in our households than coffee. Which, by the way, I hate. My Favorites are Madagascar Red, Earl Grey, & English Breakfast. Sadly though, my tea palette is limited to commercially available teas stocked by grocers. Even the health nut place near me doesn’t have enough for me to feel like I’ve done more than scratched the surface of the tea world. I think this is another reason I want to go to Japan. I just realized it. So what’s your favorite tea(s)?

I found a passing reference to the use of “Rice Glue” as an adhesive for bows. I’ve only heard of it used for paper making as a binding agent. While I understand the use of for paper, would it really hold up in a bow? Coincidentally, I have 2 gallons of fermented rice pulp in my basement. I was going to make homemade paper at one point. (6 years ago!) I also have about maybe 12 pounds of dry pulp (made of old newspapers, dryer lint, old dryer sheets, old shirts, & bamboo dust I puréed in a blender) that soaked in bleach for 2-3 years. Anyway, here are my (many) questions:Would rice glue work for a yumi? Or would I need to add maybe wood glue to it for strength? Would it be worth it? Is the rice pulp still good for making paper, since it fermented?

Could someone tell me what this kanji means? I have only ever seen it as the name, “Natsume.” Does it have any other references? Is it a Joyo Kanji? If so, do you know what it’s reference number is, so I can find it? What are its ON and KUN readings? Where did it come from? (And I don’t mean from China.) Does it show up in any words? Or is it always alone, as a name? Someone, please help me.